INTERVIEW Kansong Art Museum shines light on national pride

By Hwang Jae-ho

A couple weeks ago, I met director Chun In-keon of the Kansong Art Museum. We spoke at “A Collection for Korea: Kansong Special Exhibition for Centenary of March 1st Movement,” which continues until the end of March at Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP.)

The foundation is Korea's first private museum that was established in 1938 to collect, research and exhibit Korean paintings, writings and chinaware. Kansong Chun Hyung-Pil (1906-1962) donated much for its foundation, and Kansong Museum presents a high level of antique art collection, including national treasure No.68, the “Maebyeong celadon vase with Sang-gam engraved cranes.” Every year since 1971, Kansong has held two free exhibitions that are popular enough to be referred as icons of cultural enjoyment. Chun In-keon is Chun Hyung-Pil's grandson.

Q: Would you introduce Kansong Chun Hyung-pil?

A: Kansong Chun Hyung-pil was the founder of the Kansong Art Museum. He was also an educator who founded the Dongsung School Foundation to take over Posung High School. Posung High School was established in 1906, the first private school established by a Korean citizen. It was, and remains to this day, one of the most prominent private schools in Korea. Kansong was a determined collector and protector of Korean cultural heritage during the Japanese colonial era. An avid scholar, Kansong founded the first art history academic society in Korea and he was even an accomplished artist, maintaining the Korean scholar-artist tradition.

Q: What is the background of Kansong Museum's establishment and its history?

A: The Kansong Art Museum, formerly known as “Bohwagak” [a house to protect cultural treasures], was established in 1938, the first private museum in Korea. During the harsh years of Japanese colonial rule over Korea, the colonial forces destroyed or exported a tremendous amount of Korean cultural heritage in the form of paintings, books, ceramics, calligraphy, pagodas, and stupas. This removal of artistic history was one of many attempts by the Japanese colonial government to distort history and to demolish the traditional culture of Korea in order to perpetuate Japan's colonization of Korea. Kansong truly believed that the liberation of Korea would come eventually and acted accordingly to prepare for the future of a liberated Korea.

The preservation of traditional culture and the education of the next generation was Kansong's own way of contributing to the independence movement. The Kansong Art Museum was both the symbol and the pinnacle of his efforts to preserve and study Korean cultural heritage during this dark period.

Q: What is the significance and motivation of today's exhibition?

A: 2019 is a very special year for Koreans because it is the 100-year anniversary of the March 1st Movement of 1919. The March 1st Movement was the non-violent protest against Japanese colonial rule that declared to the world that Korea was an independent nation with democratic and humanitarian principles. This special exhibition by the Kansong Art Museum, titled “Daehan Collection, a Collection for Korea,” is designed to celebrate this special occasion and to shed new light on the life of Kansong Chun Hyung-Pil, who dedicated his whole life to protecting the important cultural heritage of Korea and to safe-keeping the national spirit of Korean students during Japanese colonial era.

Shooting guns and throwing bombs were not the only ways to further the cause of independence. Kansong acted upon his non-violent principles to preserve the national spirit of Korea through culture and education. Visitors can follow the historical story lines of three major sections including: 1. The March 1st Movement and Posung School, 2. Geoungseong Art Club, the first auction house in Korea, and 3. Taking over John Gadsby's Korean celadon collection, which was the world's best at that time.

I hope visitors will appreciate the graceful beauty of Korean ceramics and paintings as well as learn about one of the most important historical events of modern Korea. This exhibition includes six National Treasures and seven Treasures (official titles for Korean cultural heritage) among many other cultural and historical objects.

Q: Would you introduce us to which area you were occupied with before and what exactly is your duty now?

A: My name is Chun In-keon and I am the museum director of the Kansong Art Museum. I was the head officer of the administration department of the Kansong Art and Culture Foundation before I became the museum director and board director last year. I have been working as the head of the administrative office at Posung Middle & High School since 2005. My academic background is in Asian history and educational administration. I have been taking charge of most working-level tasks and planning for both the Kansong Foundation and the Dongsung School Foundation.

Q: I'd like to hear your opinions or ideas on external cultural exchange, especially with China.

A: The Kansong Art Museum is planning to construct a new museum storage building next year. This new building will have research labs, lecture rooms and viewing rooms, as well as state of the art storage rooms for cultural artifacts. After the completion of the new building, most functions of Bohwagak, the original museum building, will migrate to the new building and the original building will undergo a restoration project to restore the interior of the building to its original, pre-Korean War state.

The Kansong Art and Culture Foundation and The Cultural Heritage Administration are currently discussing whether to designate Bohwagak as an official historical site of Korea. After the complete restoration, Bohwagak will reopen to the public for the traditional periodic exhibitions and other events.

The Kansong Art Museum is also planning to open its first official local branch in Daegu Metropolitan City. The official discussions between the Kansong Foundation and Daegu City Hall regarding the Kansong Art Museum's Daegu City branch have been in progress for the last four years. The budget for the construction design of the museum is expected to be executed in the latter half of this year. According to the plan, the completion of the Kansong Art Museum's Daegu City branch will be in 2022.

A few overseas projects are also in the process of maturing and being discussed. The Kansong Foundation is currently discussing with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism the possibility of an overseas exhibition tour in China, the U.S.A. and Europe. Also, the Kansong Foundation signed an MOU with Nanjing University for a future exhibition and other cooperation such as the restoration of cultural artifacts and academic exchanges.

Q: Would you like to add some personal comments?

A: The Kansong Art Museum is one of the most prominent private museums for Korean and Asian antiques. Any art lovers who are interested in traditional Korean art and students and scholars of Asian art history are always welcome to contact us. The main goal of the Kansong Art Museum has always been to let more people know and appreciate the beauty of traditional Korean art.

Only by preserving what our ancestors left us can we be an advanced country in culture. It is our national obligation to inform and advertise what we have and how worthy it is throughout the world. Enlarging Korea's cultural soft power is one creative solution to protecting us from big powers like the U.S. and China. This year is particularly important since it is the centenary of the Provisional Government of Korea in Shanghai. Sharing our exhibition in China would be good. If there is Kansong-kind of art museum in China, we can think of building our cultural friendship. Through a mutual cultural exchange with China, we can not only tell about the beauty of Korean culture but also might be able to keep national pride by smoothing the relationship between the two countries.

Hwang Jae-ho is director of the Global Security Cooperation Center, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Seoul.